Liam Lawson has secured his first points of the 2026 Formula One season after finishing seventh in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.
After qualifying in 13th on Friday, a decision to start on hard tyres proved a masterstroke for the Kiwi, who was able to overtake drivers throughout the race by using that extra grip to his advantage.
No driver made more overtakes over the course of the sprint race than Lawson’s six, as he banked his first two championship points of the year before grand prix qualifying on Saturday night.
Lawson climbed as high as fifth during the race, but a late safety car and tyre changes led to him being overtaken by quicker cars before holding on to seventh.
While sprint races in the past have resulted in drivers limiting risk and saving cars for later in the day, Formula One’s new regulations and power management led to a more exciting affair.
Mercedes’ George Russell converted his pole position into victory in the sprint, adding to his win in last week’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, but not before a battle with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who finished third.
Russell has now led every session since the third and final practice in Melbourne.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second, while Lawson’s teammate Arvid Lindblad retired his car on the 11th lap.
Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix gets underway at 8pm on Saturday.
While Lawson was dogged by power issues at the start in Melbourne, and in Friday practice, the Kiwi suffered no such problems as the lights went out in China.
Issues for Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg helped Lawson climb to 10th by the end of the first lap, and eyeing a top-eight finish for points.
Starting on hard tyres left Lawson slower at the start, but gave the Racing Bulls driver the ability to finish stronger and he did.
With less than a second to Pierre Gasly ahead of him, Lawson got around the Alpine on lap five and then had his sights on former teammate Isack Hadjar in eighth. Hadjar was the only driver to start on soft tyres and left himself prone to being passed at the end of the race.
Lawson’s tyre advantage told on lap nine, as the Kiwi used his overtake mode after the turn 14 hairpin, and left himself only needing to defend to hold on to a points finish as he moved more than a second clear of Hadjar. He then passed Haas’ Ollie Bearman one lap later to move into seventh.
The Kiwi’s biggest worry came on lap 14, when Hulkenberg’s Audi stopped on track and forced drivers into the pits behind a safety car.
Lawson stayed out and climbed from seventh to fifth, hoping his tyres would hold long enough to defend quicker cars behind him.
On lap 16, the safety car came in, and Lawson had three laps to try to hold on from the challenge of the faster cars on fresher tyres.
After the restart, Lawson was overtaken by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, who himself had a penalty for a first-lap incident with Hadjar.
But even with Verstappen threatening to pip Lawson and Bearman at the death, the Kiwi had enough as the 19th and final lap ticked by and he held on for his first points of the new campaign.
The full-length Chinese Grand Prix gets underway at 8pm on Sunday.
Did not finish: Nico Hulkenberg – Audi, Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac, Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.